Guard for incandescent lamps.



No. #siegt UNITED STATES Iatented january 31, 1905-.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES C. BLAKE, BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO S. H. COUCH COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. l

GUARDA FOR vINCANDESGENT LAwlF's^ SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 7 81,391, dated January 31,- 1905.

` Application led 0ctober 22,v 1904. Serial No. 229,542*l To all whom, t may concern/ Be it known that I, CHARLES C. BLAKE, residing at Brookline, in' the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented cer'- tain Improvements in Guards for Incandescent Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

tion of electric-incandescent-lamp bulbs which are permanently placed inexposedzpositio'ns or which are attached to a flexible cord and carried in the hand ofv the 'user. All such wire guards that I am aware of are made to inclose the glass bulb and are spaced from the same so that they nowhere touch its surface, and such guards have to be made quite rigid and be secured to the lamp base or socket and are therefore quite expensive in original cost.

My invention concerns a wire guard con sisting of a helical spring of one piece of wire which when not attached to a bulb has its helices nearly closed to each other by their natural resiliency, so that the guard occupies but little space and many of them can be packed in small compass. varying diameters and conform generally to the contour of the lamp-bulb and spaced there'- from, the end of the lower helix being adapted to tightly grasp the base of the bulb and the succeeding helices being gradually enlargedat the greatest diameter of the b ulb and then:

decreasing in diameter over its dome, while the last two or three turns of the wire reentervr the helices and its end terminates in aneye some distance inside the helices, which helices constitute the protection for the upper end of the guard, the said eye embracing the sprue or pointed projection from the center of the bulb-top, allotl which I will now proceed to describe, and point out in the claims.

Of the drawings which forma part and illustrate the specification, Figure 1 is an elevation of an electric incandescent lamp with my invention attached thereto, and F ig. 2 is a side view of the improved wire guard detached from a lamp-bulb.

l* l hausted. The invention about to be described relates `l to means such as wire guards for'the protec- The helices are ofV In' the drawings, A represents an electric incandescent. lampv attached to a base c in the ordinary manner. v All of the bulbs of such lampsghave at their upper ends and central thereof a tapering point or sprue a where the bulb is sealed after the air has been exl take advantage of this point t and use the same' as a support for the upper terminal of my improved wire guard, as will be presently seen The wire guard Bis made fromasingle piece of resilient wire, preferably of steel, which is shown as wound into ten or twelve helices of varying diameters, so that when it is placed over the lamp it will correspond in contour with the surface of the bulb. The end 0l, which is to grasp the lower partof the bulb, is bent inward so as to hug to the bulb in the slight crevice e where the glass bulb joins the metal base produced bythe quick inward curvingof the globe toward said base, making a shoulder at the apex of the curve, while at the opposite end the helices are tapered down and the wire terminates in an eye b, and the last three helices are drawn inward, so that the eye b is inclosed,

opposite end is slipped over the sprue. or-

point a of the bulb, which serves as an abutment for the pressure of the spring and by means of which the helices are kept separated. The compression of the guard upon the bulb is sufcient to maintain its helices rigid against external pressure, but not sostrong as to endanger the safety of the bulb itself, and the bulb serves as a strut between the wire terminals. As the eye end t of the guard is inclosed by the outer helices c of the guard, the point a is protected from external injury, as is the upper end or dome of the bulb. -It will be seen that the lamp is perfectly protected on its sides and dome from external injury by the resilient helices of the wire guard, which helices may be placed as close to each other as desired. rlhe guard is wholly supported by the bulb, to which it may be readily attac-hed and from which it may be as readily detached, and it can be quickly and cheaply made and transported in a small space.

In forming the helices of the guard from the resilient wire I- prefer to make those of the largest diameter nearer to each other, as represented in Fig. 2, where the helices covering the top of the bulb-dome are regularly spaced, while the succeeding helices are closer to each other and those of lessening diameter are more Widely spaced from one another in order that when the guard is stretched upon the bulb (after the helices are separated and the bulb passed therethrough) all the helices Will be equally spaced, or practically so, from each other. It' the helices of larger diameter are not so placed near to each other, they will be so Widely spaced or separated when stretched as not to provide adequate protection for the bulb.

I claim as my invention* 1. A guard-Wire for electric incandescent lamps made from resilient wire, having helices to inclose the lampbulb, those of greater diameter being close to each other and those of lesser diameter more Widely spaced apart, means as an eye for grasping the sprue ofthe bulb, and means as a curved end of the wire to embrace the lower end of the bulb, as set forth.

2. As an article of manufacture, a wire guard for electric incandescent lamps made from resilient wire whose helices oi great diameter are close to each other while those at the ends of lesser diameter are more widely spaced apart, but adapted when separated to conform to the contour ot' a lamp-bulb and present a comparatively even spacing from each other, one end of the wire terminating in an eye disposed within the adjacent helices, and the other end adapted to embrace the lower end of the bulb, as set forth.

3. The combination with the bulb of an incandescent lamp, ot' a guard made from resilient wire, having helices to inclose the lampbulb those of larger diameter made close to each other while those of lesser diameter are made more widely spaced apart, .but when attached to said bulb all of the helices presenting comparatively even spacing apart, means at one end for grasping the lower end of the bulb, and means at the opposite end to embrace the sprue of the bulb, as set forth.

ln testimony whereof l have signed my name to this speciiication, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 18th day of October, 1904.

CHARLES (l. BLAKE.

Witnesses:

Guo. WILLIS PIERCE, CHAs. W. PITMAN. 

